Chrome 10, Firefox 4.0, or IE9? The Browser Choice

The last few days have been the perfect storm of browser releases, with Chrome 10, Firefox 4.0, and Internet Explorer 9 all coming out with new versions. How do these three new browsers stack up in speed, interface, and standards support?

Contents

Standards Support
Firefox and Chrome have supported HTML5 features longer than IE, but Microsoft has been very thorough with any features it has added, submitting tests to the official Web standards organization, the W3C. That body is in the midst of developing definitive tests for standards support, but those aren't complete yet. Meanwhile, a little test of HTML5 functions I like to run is HTML5Test.com, which shows how many HTML5 elements and features a browser supports out of 400. It also notes "bonus" points for features that aren't required parts of HTML5, but are good to have, such as extra video codecs. Microsoft reps pointed out to me that this test doesn't actually show whether a browser has correctly implemented the functions, but just that it's been implemented. Chrome here leads all other released browsers, with a score of 288 and 13 bonus points, and Firefox comes in second. IE9 ups its game hugely from IE8, but it still trails most other new browsers.

Browser

HTML5Test.com Score (higher is better)

Bonus Points

Google Chrome 10

288

13

Firefox 4 RC

240

9

Firefox 3.6

139

4

Internet Explorer 9 RC

130

5

Internet Explorer 8

27

0

Privacy and Security
Security is an aspect of Web browsing that no one can afford to ignore. While all three browsers offer excellent tools like malware blocking and anti-phishing, Chrome has an edge, with its full code sandboxing for the browser. This means the browser code can't mess with other areas of your computer. IE has partial sandboxing, with its protected mode, but we all know how often we've seen a grave exploit of IE uncovered. Only time will tell whether IE9 will be an exception, but it's encouraging that the recent Pwn2Own vulnerability found in IE8 didn't apply to IE9.

All three browsers include an "over the shoulder" privacy mode, which hides a browsing session from any future users of the computer in question. But IE has the strongest answer to another kind of privacy invasion: tracking and profiling by third-party sites, with its Tracking Protection feature. This allows users to block tracking sites (such as DoubleClick) from following your Web surfing history and tracking you. The tracking it protects you from is mostly a technique for Web advertisers to profile you, and this IE9 feature is akin to the "Do Not Call" list aimed at telemarketers. This technique requires less buy-in from all sites than Mozilla and Google's anti-tracking initiatives, so I consider it more flexible and comprehensive.

ExtrasSyncing, Extensions
Both Chrome and Firefox offer syncing of bookmarks, passwords, and preferences, which lets you keep your customizations when move among different computers with the browser installed. Chrome's version is easier to setup up, requiring nothing more than a Gmail login. Firefox, however, can also sync open tabs, history, and even tabs, so you can pick up where you left off when you switch computersor even move to a mobile device running Firefox or Firefox Home (for iOS). Oddly, Firefox doesn't let you sync extensions, while Chrome does, as well as syncing themes. IE9 doesn't offer any syncing at all.

All three browsers offer extensibility through extensions, a capability most often associate with Firefox. Chrome offers over 10 thousand extensions in its gallery, but Firefox's 5,000-plus can more drastically change the operation and look of the browser. Chrome does have a couple advantages in this arena, too: its extensions don't require restarting the browser, they update automatically, and you can choose whether they should run when you're in privacy mode. Internet Explorer's extensions mostly fall into the Accelerator, Web Slice, Search provider, and toolbar categories, but there are a surprising number in many categories at Microsoft's IE Add-ons site.

Which New Browser is Best?
All three browsers are fast, trim, and up-to-date with standards support, and all are good choices. If you like what you read about IE9, remember that it really only shines in Windows 7, so you'll have to be running Microsoft's latest operating system version. Chrome and Firefox both work in all major OSesLinux, Mac, and Windows back to XP. Chrome's Instant feature, built-in Flash and PDF reader, auto-updating, and great speed give it some serious advantages, however. And its full sandboxing for security further tips the odds in its favor, making it the best of the big three browser to release in the last week or so. Chrome 10 fights off IE9 and Firefox 4 to retain our Editors' Choice for browsers.

Michael Muchmore is PC Magazine’s lead analyst for software and Web applications. A native New Yorker, he has at various times headed up PC Magazine’s coverage of Web development, enterprise software, and display technologies. Michael cowrote one of the first overviews of Web Services for a general audience. Before that he worked on PC Magazine’s Solutions section, which covered programming techniques as well as tips on using popular office software. Most recently he covered services and software for ExtremeTech.com.
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